Kirill Rogov: "Free the political prisoners!"

"In recent days, I heard such an argument: the opposition goes to exacerbate, but as a result it becomes worse - detention, arrests, new prohibitions. In fact, this is not the opposition (God grant her health in special receivers!). The opposition is worth it, it just becomes more professional and organized. But if 5 thousand people would have come to Sakharov Avenue. Rallies, limited to two or three hundred detentions.

“This is not an opposition, it was a wave. It was also in 2012. The opposition was extremely surprised to see that 50 thousand people came to it instead of 10. I agree that the wave scale should not be exaggerated yet. It has not reached the scope of 2011 - 2012. But, however, dividing the moment of reason and inconvenience of the moment (registration with the elections in the Mogordum), it is not worth it. And down, yes, this is a wave.

The wave, in addition, has some more differences. If in May 2012 the beating of a peaceful demonstration and the initiation of a series of criminal cases was a shock to society, now the situation is somewhat different. Active opposition straps have psychologically adapted to the level of repression that the Kremlin has demonstrated in recent years. Their mood is a confrontation (peaceful, of course), not a walk. (And this enraged the Kremlin July 27.)

The second difference, applied to the first: readiness for protest, and not only for protest, but also to confront, is now not mainly of Moscow history. Let us recall with what perseverance and determination recently opposed the demolition of the square in Yekaterinburg, recall ShiES. This is a completely different mood than what was in 2011 - 2012, when rallies were perceived more like opposition festivals.

While the Kremlin holds this new mood in the format of local stories. Notice how swift candidates were registered with St. Petersburg. It is understandable. If events like Moscow began there, it would look like the beginning of a chain reaction. And this was very afraid.

But what could unite heterogeneous confrontations in different loci into a single wave? One of the potential binding topics is, of course, repressions against participants and illegitimate violence. This is what can transform private summons into a general political emotion, unite unconnected political groups, and involve neutral. And this is one of the most important threats to the authoritarian government.

In the meantime, it is only obvious that the slogan: free the political prisoners! - It will become one of the main topics of the protest campaign in Moscow. "